Best bank: UBS
Some analysts were quick to call it the deal of the century. The first takeover of a global systemically important bank that repeated management errors and regulatory failure had brought to the brink of collapse was a rescue by its domestic rival. It was a humiliation for Switzerland that, with customers pulling their money in vast quantities over several months, Credit Suisse was left to carry on to the very brink of insolvency.
In March 2023, its senior executives were still trying to cobble together a fix either with Saudi investors, who had supported its previous rights issue, or with BlackRock. Thankfully, UBS stood ready to take it over.
There is a lesson here. UBS itself had required government support following huge losses in the global financial crisis. But it then brought in new management, ironically from Credit Suisse, to restore it. Following that, chief executive Sergio P Ermotti instigated a profound business restructuring to reduce dependence on volatile investment banking earnings and to stand instead on its world-class private-banking franchise.
In the process, it developed a sustainable business model, producing strong earnings and generating capital. Its ability to take on the sinking Credit Suisse last year completed that extraordinary cycle for UBS from Swiss banking’s biggest problem to being its saviour.
Ermotti returned in 2023 to oversee an integration that will continue this year and next. The outcome remains uncertain. But the ability of UBS to quickly steady the ship, win back customer assets, reassure key employees, cut costs, run down non-core assets and quickly repay emergency support from the Swiss government in the form of liquidity and second loss-sharing guarantees, is a sign that this was the right deal for the country. UBS is the best bank in Switzerland.
Best investment bank: UBS
UBS is also the best investment bank in Switzerland. It earned two and a half times as much as second placed Bank of America in investment banking revenue last year. It topped the volume rankings in all the categories for 2023, including M&A advisory, equity capital markets, debt capital markets and loans.
UBS advised on the largest spin-off of the year, helping Novartis to further simplify its corporate structure by spinning-off Sandoz at an enterprise value of SFr13.8 billion ($15.5 billion). It showed its capacity on cross-border deals. UBS was sole adviser to Clariant on the acquisition of Canadian chemicals company Lucas Meyer Cosmetics from International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF) for $810 million. And it was exclusive adviser to Swiss piping company Georg Fischer on its €2.2 billion acquisition of Finland’s Uponor.
Despite 2023 being one of the most challenging years of the last decade for ECM, UBS continued to outperform by executing the most high-profile transactions in Switzerland, including as sole global coordinator on a SFr830 million accelerated bookbuild in Roche shares. That deal followed a one-day wall cross amid volatile conditions in February.
In March 2023, Bachem tapped the equity markets to raise SFr108 million of primary capital to expand the biotech company’s production capacity, including at a new manufacturing site in Sisslerfeld/Eiken in Switzerland. UBS was sole global coordinator and bookrunner.
Best international investment bank: BofA Securities
BofA Securities had a successful year in Switzerland, securing roles on important transactions for Swiss blue-chip clients.
In the debt capital markets, the firm acted as a joint bookrunner on ABB’s dual-tranche bond offering worth €1.25 billion. The deal, which was ABB’s only bond issue in 2023, attracted a warm response from investors. It received €5.5 billion in orders, which allowed the issuer to price the eight-year leg of the transactions at just a two-basis point concession – a favourable outcome not seen in the euro corporate market for over nine months.
In another significant DCM mandate, the firm advised Philip Morris International on its $5.25 billion SEC-registered offering. This transaction also registered strong investment interest, with demand exceeding $14 billion and competitive pricing at 20bp below initial price targets. The bank facilitated several DCM deals for another repeat client, Nestlé, including its $3 billion multi-part offering in March and £400 million 15-year issue in November.
Despite a quiet period in the equity capital markets, Bank of America advised on one significant mandate, as a joint lead financial adviser to Novartis on the SFr13.7 billion ($15.3 billion) listing and spin-off of Sandoz.
The firm was also active in leveraged finance, where it served as mandated lead arranger for Archroma’s $820 million cross-border refinancing and supported Dufry’s acquisition of Autogrill.
